Five get life term for killing youth over altercation in Delhi

Four employees of a petrol pump and a security guard have been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a youth by firing at him when he urinated near the wall of the premises, after an altercation took place between them.

The court said that the case does not fall in the category of "rarest of rare".

It said all the five convicts shared common intention and in its execution, 23-year-old Himanshu was killed.

"The manner in which accused Mukesh gave exhortation, assaulted deceased with empty glass bottle, Manoj and Dhiraj pulled Himanshu out of the car and gave him beatings, Chandgi fired four shots from his double barrel gun, on the exhortation Chandgi fired a fatal shot aiming Himanshu, the obvious inference is that the accused shared common intention, in execution of which the victim was killed," the court said.

It further said that presence of Narender at the spot and his participation in assaulting the victim and others with his other co-accused also proves beyond doubt that he shared common intention with his co-accused in committing this crime.

According to the prosecution, the incident took place on the night of September 30, 2009, when Himanshu and his friends stopped at Mashih Petrol Pump in Anand Vihar here to get their petrol tank filled as they all had to go out of town next day.

After some time, they again went to the same petrol outlet to buy cold drink and after parking the car, Himanshu bought the drink and urinated on the wall of the premises, it said.

One of the staff opposed to him which led to which an altercation took place between them. This turned into physical assault between Himanshu and his friends and the pump staff, it said.

Mukesh asked Chandgi to fire at the victim and guard pumped five shots from his double barrel gun in Dayanand Vihar resident Himanshu's body, the police said, adding that, he was taken to a nearby hospital where he died.

Chandgi was also held guilty under the Arms Act as his arms licence was only valid in the jurisdiction of Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh and he was not holding a valid licence to carry the gun in Delhi.
The permission to carry double barrel gun from Kannauj to Delhi was found to be forged, it said.

The court, however, acquitted sixth accused Sunil due to lack of evidence against him.

All the convicts had sought leniency saying they have to support their families.